Weaving Relationship with the Land: Dye, Spin & Weave

4th-10th May 2027

Join Laurie King and Tor Woven on the wild and wonderful Isle of Eigg – explore your relationships with the land through the practice of sit spots and the arts of dyeing, spinning and weaving.

During the six night all-inclusive retreat, we will invite you to be with the land and to reflect, and will then guide you to create a textile on a heddle loom. We will be preparing some of the yarn ourselves, dyeing it with plants from the island and spinning it using a drop spindle. The inspiration behind the woven piece is your connection to the island landscape and the beauty it holds.

Our intention is to share with you these old crafts as new skills, so that you may journey home with a beautiful unique textile and a remembered reverence for the incredible natural world which we are woven into.

What’s included

Six nights of accommodation in a beautiful setting.
Learn to spin on a drop spindle, card and blend wool, make a natural dye bath and weave with Tor Woven. All materials included.
Explore your relationship with the more-than-human with Laurie King, practice sit spots and be guided with reflective questions and techniques.
Time in circle to share creative process and inspiration with the group.
Fully catered – delicious meals, teas and snacks, prepared by a local chef. We can accommodate all dietary requirements, to be confirmed when booking.
Low group: guide ratio – there are just six guest places on this retreat with two experienced guides.

Meet Tor

Tor is a Weaver and Soul Midwife who lives in awe of the world we as humans are woven into. She has a deep fascination for cycles and seasons both within us and around us. She has uncovered through her years of spinning and weaving a sweet sense of belonging, found through craft and the deep relationship one grows to place, to land, to plant and to animal when working with them so closely to create textiles. She enjoys sharing her practices so that others may find a peaceful slowness in life and remember the wider weaving of us all.

“Born from the loom, each weaving is alive, animate at its core, indigenous to its place. My hands blend and spin yarn with colours lent by plants, and fibres lent by sheep, and weave them into tales of rich encounters and deep inner processes.”

Visit her website.

_{Photographer: Roselle Knauss, Insta: @readyornotthereiam}

What Laurie brings

Laurie lives on Eigg and is a qualified Wilderness Therapeutic Practitioner, bringing practical skills like foraging with softer approaches such as sit spots, mindfulness and nature solos. She is also an artist who works with plants…you can read more about her on the About page.

**Rough Itinerary*:**

Tuesday – Arrival & Welcome

Gather before dinner in opening circle to meet and to hear more about the week
An introduction into natural dyes and how do they connect us to land and place
Begin the process of making dye baths

Wednesday – Natural Dyes

Meet the land on Eigg through walking and ritual
Add the yarn to the dye bath and see the colour change
Find your sit spot

Thursday – Spinning & Sit Spots

An introduction to spinning – history and forms of spindle and wheel with Tor
Carding, blending colours of wool on a drum carder
Spin on a drop spindle
Revisit your sit spot, developing your relation with the land on Eigg to inform your weaving

Friday– Insight Walk

Have some solo time on the land to reflect and notice. There will be a reflective question or intention to guide you.
Share some of your experiences of solo time with the group in circle. Laurie will reflect back what she hears in your story.

Saturday – Learn to Weave

An introduction to weaving
Learn to weave the first threads
Sink into the process of weaving and take time out on the land when you want to connect or refresh

Sunday – Weaving & Reflecting

A day to sink fully into the craft of weaving, learning different techniques as we go
Revisit your sit spot and ask some reflective questions, thinking about what threads we weave into our lives in the future
Tying the knot and cutting the threads
Closing circle

Monday – Farewell